A review on fixed income market cannot omit president-elect Trump’s first press conference of the year, although it contained little substance for investors trying to understand what the economic priorities of the new Administration will be.
Nick Malkoutzis via Macropolis | What could Greece have expected from the visit of a US leader in the final days of his presidency, before he is replaced by someone who appears to be the antithesis in personal and policy terms? Not much. What did it get from Barack Obama’s brief stay in Athens? Probably more than it expected.
Jarno Lang | Obama is not only a pop-cultural phenomenon, but also a pragmatic leader. His successor will have to deal with a worldwide net of dependencies.
Veena Trehan | Obama’s legacy will be scarred if he deviates from focusing on addressing climate change. In August 2015, US President Barack Obama made a memorable trip to the Arctic just months after approving Shell’s drilling off the coast of Alaska. At the time, he said: “Climate change is no longer some far-off problem; it is happening here, it is happening now.”
The nuclear deal with Iran, like Nixon’s opening to China in 1972, has the potential to be a geopolitical game-changer—if it can get through Congress first.
NEW YORK | By Joelle Gamble via Next New Deal | According to the White House, the five Promise Zones, which will be established in Los Angeles, San Antonio, Philadelphia, Kentucky, and Oklahoma will focus on replacing distressed housing, reducing crime rates, increasing student high school graduation prospects, and stimulating economic growth via tax incentives.
SAO PAULO | By Marcus Nunes | It is encouraging that Obama may soon have to fill up to 5 slots in the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve. Maybe it´s expecting too much that he´ll think that´s a very important thing to happen at times like the present. He´s already ‘failed’ in a previous instance when he had 3 slots to fill, leaving them open for a long time and even failing to get an appointee approved! The low quality of some recent Fed Governors is glaring.
NEW YORK | By Ana Fuentes | As the NSA spying scandal spreads, the White House is profusely working on damage control. Last night it reported that no final decision has been made, but many officials are already talking of cutting the NSA wings in some way. To reinforce this message, yesterday President Obama came off as special guest on Fusion, a new cable channel for millenials and a highly anticipated television release. Also, Senate intelligence committee chair Diane Feinstein, who used to be a loyal defender of NSA activities, called for a total review of its powers.
NEW YORK | By Ana Fuentes | The US president visited his key ally in Europe amid tensions caused by the American surveillance program, their use of German military bases for drone strikes and Obama’s disagreement with chancellor Angela Merkel on how to handle the euro crisis.
Interested in the world’s economy? There’s somebody you should meet. He doesn’t have an outstanding experience in the private sector but is determined to drastically cut U.S. government spending, boost market flexibility and avoid the “clouds” that are coming from Europe. If Republicans make it to the White House in november, Congressman Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney’s pick for vice president, will have a bigger say than the president. If not,…